Over the past decade leading tech companies — notably Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google), Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft — have come to dominate their respective segments in most parts of the world. Some stats: Meta, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, has 3.5 billion users across its networks. More than 50% of global online ad spending goes through Meta or Alphabet. In search, Google has more than a 60% share in the United States and more than 90% in Europe, Brazil, and India. Apple earns more in annual profit than Starbucks makes in revenue. Microsoft is a top-three vendor to 84% of businesses. And Amazon takes in more than 40% of online spending in the United States and runs nearly one-third of the internet through Amazon Web Services. Collectively, the Big Five earned income of about $197 billion on revenue of more than $1 trillion in 2020, while their market cap rose to $7.5 trillion by year’s end.
These companies are so successful — and generate so much consumer data and cash — that it sometimes feels as if they can’t be stopped. Not only have they been on the cutting edge of technology, but now they also have the power of incumbency. Yet according to Jonathan Knee — who is a veteran investment banker specializing in media and tech, a Columbia Business School Professor, and the author of The Platform Delusion: Who Wins and Who Loses in the Age of Tech Titans — even digital superpowers face threats, from startups as well as seasoned competitors. In…
